The Bibliofiles – Sno-Isle Librarieshttps://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles
In the Biblio Files blog, Sno-Isle Libraries staff members engage in conversations about reading. Join in by adding your comments.Mon, 19 Mar 2018 07:00:00 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.497035499Unladylike: The Way of the Uncooperative Womanhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sil-bibliofiles/~3/_2Oao8M-wcs/
https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/unladylike/#respondMon, 19 Mar 2018 07:00:00 +0000https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles?p=16838&preview=true&preview_id=16838By Emily Z. This all started with a book about female serial killers. I don’t quite remember how, but that book led to a book about being a single lady before it was cool. From there I discovered books about or by remarkable, multifarious women who were all very different in their approach to being […]

This all started with a book about female serial killers. I don’t quite remember how, but that book led to a book about being a single lady before it was cool. From there I discovered books about or by remarkable, multifarious women who were all very different in their approach to being womanly. What precisely makes these women/books remarkable varies and not all are glowing examples of feminism or even virtue, but that is kind of the idea. Women are people and people are complicated. For some of these women, their power is apparent in their words and worldviews. With others, it is found in the way they lived their lives (and when).

A woman does not need to be Eleanor Roosevelt, Frida Kahlo, or Malala Yousafzai to be significant and worthy of consideration. It helps, but we already expect quite a bit from women, even if we don’t always say it in actual words. Be sexy, but not too sexy. Be responsible, but not a nag. Anticipate the needs of others, but don’t expect praise for doing so. Find salads hilarious. Never age. Be forever attractive, smart, modest, helpful, fashionable, an earner, a mother (even if you don’t have kids), a partner, an interior decorator, meal-planner, maid, and more, regardless of your individual interests and skill set. Adding “revolutionary activist and cultural icon” on top of all that is … a lot.

The discussion about what makes a woman a woman and what makes that woman palatable and proper has been writhing, and evolving for centuries. Proper lady behavior is traditionally defined by one’s dominant culture, but as cultures shift with time, geography, the waxing and waning influence of different generations, the economy, etc that doesn’t narrow the field of debate by much. In different ways, these books add their voices to this deliberation. In pictures and prose, each nudges us to question what it means to be female.

Questioning Definitions:

This is a hard book to pin down, but in the best way. It’s a series of essays examining the way women, girls, princesses, female celebrities, and even cross-dressing cartoon rabbits are presented in popular culture and what that does to our minds. As someone with a young daughter, Chocano is understandably curious about the influence of media on the next generation of women. Her writing engages because it often starts from unexpected places and goes in equally surprising directions. “Let It Go” starts out talking about the imprisonment of Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, and ends up in the land of Disney princesses. Chocano’s humor, skill at painting a scene with words, and anecdotes about her adorable daughter don’t hurt either.

Refusing to Settle Down:

This is not a biography of Marjorie Hillis (a woman most of us have never heard of), but a book that uses her unique line of self-help guides as a scaffold for a much, much more expansive examination of what it meant to be a woman in 20th century America. Hillis wrote books for the burgeoning group of 1920s, 30s, and 40s women who were considering not getting married right away (or at all). The first of these, Live Alone and Like It, playfully postulated the idea that single women could exist apart from their families and husbands. This was something legally, financially, and culturally unheard of for most of history up to that point. She argued that women could achieve a previously unimaginable autonomy and agency in their lives without also feeling worthless or lonely. Hillis’ writing helped to normalize the idea of the single, employed woman on an international scale. She also published a budgeting guidebook during The Great Depression—a truly unenviable task—and encouraged women to discuss their shared financial future with any prospective beaus. The rest of Scutt’s book explores Hillis’s competition in the burgeoning self-help publishing market as well as those who came later. It is an ambitious, absorbing read on the evolution of womanhood in the west.

Being a Menace to Society:

Female serial killers might not seem to be part of the conversation about female empowerment, but Telfer makes it happen. She does not necessarily sympathize with these murderesses, but provides useful historical context and offers alternative theories regarding their motivations (and how they might differ from those of male serial killers). She also swats down some of the more romantic, overly dramatic ideas that evolved around these mysterious figures. For example, Erzsebet Bathory probably didn’t actually bathe in gallons of servant-girl blood. Sorry.

The print version of the book includes a list of recommended music to listen to while reading, a Q&A with the author, notes, and suggestions for further reading on each subject.

Dressing Innapropriately:

This is the second edition of Cohen’s catalog of street-style (the first book is also available). In this photographic compendium of outstanding outfits, Cohen approaches women (and okay, a few men) of experience and captures their look that day. An enormous range of subjects and styles are represented; there are Chanel bags and practical linen slacks. Every ensemble is unique and the aesthetics covered come in every flavor: runway-worthy high fashion, leopard prints, boho-chic, rainbow, leathers, feathers, tweeds, tartans, crepes, kimonos, and every possible astonishing hybrid in between. These are women who know exactly how they want to present themselves. If the model has time, Cohen also tries to snag an interview. It is difficult to choose a favorite, but mine might be on page 159. ————–>

Are there any books that made you stop and think about what it means to be a woman? How far women have and have not come?

I have more titles in the list below, but I’m always interested to find more.﻿

]]>https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/unladylike/feed/016838https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/unladylike/Whidbey Reads Presents: An Interview with Jim Lynchhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sil-bibliofiles/~3/DsC_Qc6TVLk/
https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/whidbey-reads-presents-an-interview-with-jim-lynch/#respondFri, 16 Mar 2018 15:00:43 +0000https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/?p=17310By Kaley C. Jim Lynch’s Before the Wind features an unmoored family that lived and breathed sailing only to fall into dysfunction. His rich descriptions of our local waters and boats transport you to the marina. You’re left sympathizing with Josh, who is bewildered after his family seems to have fallen apart. Sailing is something […]

Jim Lynch’s Before the Wind features an unmoored family that lived and breathed sailing only to fall into dysfunction. His rich descriptions of our local waters and boats transport you to the marina. You’re left sympathizing with Josh, who is bewildered after his family seems to have fallen apart.

Sailing is something Jim is all too familiar with as his family has sailed the waters of the Puget Sound since he was a child. The bonds of the Lynch family are much stronger than those of the family he created for his book, though. Jim fondly remembers sailing with his father in a plywood boat they built in their driveway.

Join me as I ask Jim a few questions about his book and life as a sailor.

Kaley: Which character from Before the Wind would you spend time with and what would you do?

Jim: To be honest, I’d like to hang out with all those characters both in the family and in the boatyard. But if I could do just one thing with one of them, that’s easy. I’d go sailing with Ruby. I’ve always been enamored with people who seem to have borderline magical intuition when it comes to understanding the subtleties of sailing well. They’re like wizards to me. They possess superpowers that I wish I had.

K: I know sailing has been a part of your family for a long time. How did that impact Before the Wind?

J: I don’t think a non-sailor would’ve considered writing a book like that. And even a sailor who’d learned it on his own would probably not write that book. No, the fingerprints of somebody who grew up in a sailing family are all over that novel. It’s not that the Johannssen family mirrors mine, but the seeds for those characters grew out of my own family, starting with my sailing fanatic father, my scientific mother and my freakishly athletic sister.

K: Did you learn something new about sailing while researching for this book?

J: Actually I learned a lot about sailing because of the obsessive way I research. I interviewed world-class sailors. I learned about the physics of sailing. I crewed on race boats that I would normally not be on so that I could make competitive sailing even more real. I learned while racing two-man Star boats that you need to make sure to secure at least one foot beneath the hiking strap or you may flip overboard into the frigid Puget Sound like I did during one race.

K: Was there something that you wanted to include in the book but couldn’t make it fit?

J: I’m sure there was, but I can’t remember it now. That’s the way these books go. It all feels like a work in progress until it suddenly starts to firm up and then the paint dries and it all feels inevitable, as if this obviously is the full story in its entirety, and other ideas are washed away.

K: You’ve been away from these characters for awhile, what do you miss about them and the world you’ve built?

J: I do miss them but I’ve revisited them plenty during the past year while I’ve been writing the screenplay for what I hope will become the Before the Wind movie. I’ve written the script with a playwright friend, Bryan Willis. Now some Hollywood producers are shopping our script to directors to see if they can’t put together a team to get the movie made. So during this process, I’ve been able to hang out with most of the characters again, and that’s been somewhat surreal.

————

Jim’s author visits are right around the corner. He will be visiting us Wednesday, April 18 in Freeland, and Thursday April 19, in Oak Harbor.

]]>https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/whidbey-reads-presents-an-interview-with-jim-lynch/feed/017310https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/whidbey-reads-presents-an-interview-with-jim-lynch/Beyond Bestsellers: Is the Suspense Entertaining You?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sil-bibliofiles/~3/xdKnngnwgdg/
https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/beyond-bestsellers-is-the-suspense-entertaining-you/#respondThu, 15 Mar 2018 15:00:15 +0000https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/?p=17353by Denise D. Ides of March Happy Ides of March, Beyond Bestsellers! (Hopefully the day is treating you better than it did Julius Caesar and the only thing making you wary is the suspense in your novel!) Did our quiz lead you to a good match? Have you read enough suspense to create a list? If so, we’d […]

Ides of March

Happy Ides of March, Beyond Bestsellers! (Hopefully the day is treating you better than it did Julius Caesar and the only thing making you wary is the suspense in your novel!)

Did our quiz lead you to a good match? Have you read enough suspense to create a list? If so, we’d love to see it!

As I confessed in my first blog, I’m a fan of psychological suspense. Give me a couple of unreliable narrators telling the same story– with very different interpretations– and I’m a happy camper. Add in an historical period, an international city that screams intrigue, and a Hitchcockian noir atmosphere, then I’m liable to gush rave reviews.

Tangier, Morocco. 1958. A newlywed with some mysterious trauma in her past holes up in her apartment while her husband experiences the city’s intrigues. And then the newlywed’s Bennington College roommate shows up. It’s the first time they have seen each other since “the accident.”

I love everything about this book: the alluringly mysterious characters, the vibrant setting, the way the author gives the two alternating narrators their own authentic voices, the hint of Patricia Highsmith, and the mounting suspense.

]]>https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/beyond-bestsellers-is-the-suspense-entertaining-you/feed/017353https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/beyond-bestsellers-is-the-suspense-entertaining-you/Prose Bowl 2018: Round 2http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sil-bibliofiles/~3/W-X6tXvOZiM/
https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/prose-bowl-2018-round-2/#commentsWed, 14 Mar 2018 14:00:00 +0000https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles?p=16887&preview=true&preview_id=16887by Grant P. Vote now! Welcome back to Prose Bowl 2018. We started with twenty-four worthy contenders last week, and after tallying the nearly 1,700 votes using only an abacus, we have our winners from each of their genre brackets. Now the real battle begins, ROUND 2! The Hunger Games has nothing on us. […]

Welcome back to Prose Bowl 2018. We started with twenty-four worthy contenders last week, and after tallying the nearly 1,700 votes using only an abacus, we have our winners from each of their genre brackets. Now the real battle begins, ROUND 2! The Hunger Games has nothing on us.

Crime Fiction vs. Nonfiction

Apparently very few voters throw stones, because Glass Houses by Louise Penny won in a landslide with almost 40% of the vote in the Crime Fiction group. In a much tighter race Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance narrowly beat out The Radium Girls by Kate Moore. My personal prediction for this category is the book with more votes will win.

General Fiction/Historical Fiction vs. Romance

In another tight race, Small Great Things by Jodi Piccoult just edged out Beartown by Fredrik Backman, in the General Fiction category. Just in case anyone is calling my and my trusty abacus’s integrity into question, my favorite book Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders was soundly defeated (sigh). I am sure that the familiar northwest setting of Jayne Ann Krentz’s aided in her thorough defeat of her romance rivals.

Graphic Novel vs. Speculative Fiction

I bet the other graphic novels in the contest regret not timing the release of the movie adaptation of their work to coincide with Prose Bowl. Black Panther laid waste to the competition with almost 50% of the vote! Likewise Katherine Arden’s debut novel dominated the field more than doubling the votes of the nearest challenger. I am sad that these two great books can’t meet in the finals.

Well, there you have it, now get to voting. You have until March 20 at noon to cast your vote.

]]>https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/prose-bowl-2018-round-2/feed/616887https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/prose-bowl-2018-round-2/Meet the WA Authors of the 3rd Grade Reading Challengehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sil-bibliofiles/~3/j9eZsxj7Z7A/
https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/wa-reading-challenge-authors/#respondMon, 12 Mar 2018 15:00:00 +0000https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles?p=17154&preview=true&preview_id=17154by Karin T. This month, Washington authors Patrick Jennings and Kelly Jones have even more third-grade fans than usual. Patrick and Kelly visited schools in Snohomish and Island counties as part of the Sno-Isle Libraries Mega-Fun, Biblio-Trivia, Rockem-Sockem Third Grade Reading Challenge. The Reading Challenge is a literary trivia program. Third graders work together to develop […]

This month, Washington authors Patrick Jennings and Kelly Jones have even more third-grade fans than usual. Patrick and Kelly visited schools in Snohomish and Island counties as part of the Sno-Isle Libraries Mega-Fun, Biblio-Trivia, Rockem-Sockem Third Grade Reading Challenge. The Reading Challenge is a literary trivia program. Third graders work together to develop teamwork skills and master details about six books. We offer this program to help kids develop and nurture a lifelong love of reading.

As a member of the Reading Challenge team, I asked the authors a few questions about their visits to schools, their books, and what they love to read.

I’m reading Out Standing in My Field, with Lucky Cap next on my list. Do you think you’ll write more baseball stories or other sports stories someday? Do you have a favorite team in real life?

I lived for baseball when I was a middle-grader, played Little League, watched every Cubs game on TV, and internalized forever the language spoken by announcer Jack Brickhouse.

I haven’t really followed professional sports as an adult, though, other than a short stint following the Giants when I lived in San Francisco. I really enjoyed going to Candlestick and listening to away games on the radio, then poring over statistics in the Chronicle the next morning.

I’m not sure if I’ll write another sports story, but I may have a sailing story in me. The research for it would be thrilling, as I love to sail, but don’t know how.

Tell us about your favorite authors or books for kids. Have you read any books you’d recommend for teens or adults recently?

Like most people, the books I read as a kid have really stayed with me and influenced me. For me, the books I read in the middle grades were particularly influential. These were my golden years as a reader, when I fell in love with books and stories and language.

I especially liked funny animal stories—and eventually that’s what I would choose to write.

I read old and new books. In January I re-read Steig’s Dominic, Horvath’s The Canning Season, and, for the first time, Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother—very different books, but all absolutely wonderful, funny, and weird.

What can you tell us about your next book/writing project?

I have one book finished and looking for a home. Appropriately, it’s about a dog that gets separated from his owner in the woods and is trying to get home. The story is told from the dog’s point of view in a very limited vocabulary and primarily by nose: it’s described by scent, not sight, like most stories.

Is there anything else you’d like to add about Guinea Dog or any of your other work?

I’m really excited Guinea Dog is a part of the Challenge again. It was in 2014, too. Odd, Weird, and Little and My Homework Ate My Homework were also included in past years. Knowing that so many readers are perusing the book so intently really tickles me. I look forward to meeting the students and attending the finals.

I love seeing students realize that an author is just a regular person, like them – one who works hard at her writing. After all, if

I can write books, so can they! I never got to meet an author until I was an adult, so it took me a long time to realize that.

The third graders and I had a lot of fun discussing how to create superpets for the stories we might want to write and/or illustrate, and figuring out how some science and math could help us out with that. We did some calculations involving how many chocolate cakes you might need to bake to get your teleporting pet T. Rex who eats an entire chocolate cake a day through a whole week. Also, in case you didn’t know, a penguin who can fly through the night sky and only eats pizza with sausage and black olives is definitely an omnivore.

What can you tell us about your next book project? Do you think you might use cats (yours or perhaps cats with superpowers) as inspiration on a future project?

My next book is called Are You Ready to Hatch an Unusual Chicken? It’s the sequel to Unusual Chickens, and will follow Sophie into her next adventures with some new chickens (with a new superpower) – and hatching some unusual eggs, too! It will be illustrated by Katie Kath, and will be out this fall. No cats have turned up in it yet (but you never know about cats…)

My super-secret fourth book has a couple of goats in it, though! Their names are Rodgers and Hammerstein. (Pro Tip: if you don’t have enough room in your small backyard for all the pets you’d like to have, I highly recommend inviting some fictional ones into your stories!)

Kelly’s second book, Murder, Magic, and What We Wore, features 16-year-old Annis Whitworth as the main character, a dressmaker/spy during the Regency period.

Do you like to sew in real life? I wish I could create magical garments like Annis does.

I do like to sew – but I always wish it went faster! All of Annis’s slapdash, poorly planned projects come from my experience, I’m afraid. Alas, I lack her magical talent, so I’m much better at Halloween costumes than wearable clothes!

I really love Cal Patch’s Design-It-Yourself Clothes. It helped me learn how to take a flat piece of cloth and turn it into a 3D garment.

You have some backyard chickens, and your author profile says that you look for recipes to make with lots of eggs. I read about your chili-chocolate chunk cookies in The Sweet Sixteens, and it made my mouth water.

You can make some too! Just replace chocolate chips in the Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe in Kim Boyce’s Good to the Grain with chunks of Theo Chocolate’s chili chocolate. (Trust me, they’re a delicious dessert, not a healthy food! Kind of like a s’more crossed with a cookie…)

Any other cookbooks or baking books that you recommend?

I also love Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson. My copy was a gift from my editor after a discussion about a type of recipe we were testing (our final version just might appear in the forthcoming sequel to Unusual Chickens, so I can’t tell you any more about it yet – but look for it this fall!)

I love that book too. I made the Rhubarb and Cherry Brown Betty, and it was delicious.

Sorcery and Cecelia is still one of my favorite books, many many re-reads later (and the others in that series as well.) In fact, I love it so much I wrote to both the authors (along with other authors of all kinds of books set during the Regency period) to see if I could mention their characters in Murder, Magic, and What We Wore. It was such an honor when they said yes!

So, keep your eyes open for a few names you might recognize as you read, or flip to the back, and see what you’d like to read next!

Anything you’d like to add about Unusual Chickens or any of your other work?

You know, I’ve learned something from my characters’ struggles: even when you really, really want something, it can take a while to get it right, and to make it happen. If it doesn’t turn out quite like you hoped? Keep trying. It takes patience, and practice, like sewing. But it’s an amazing feeling when someone else loves a story you wrote.

Here’s a photo of an embroidery piece I did while researching the hand-sewing (and secret spy messages) for Murder, Magic, and What We Wore – I’d forgotten how easy it is to prick your finger, and how long all those tiny stitches take!

(Photo courtesy of Kelly Jones)

—————————

You’re invited to join us at the Reading Challenge finals, where you’ll see Patrick and Kelly at the Edmonds Center for the Arts March 28, starting at 6:30 pm along with lots of amazing third graders who know Patrick and Kelly’s books (and more) backwards and forwards.

And, who knows, you may witness a future Jeopardy! contestant in the making!

Do you have a favorite book from childhood? Do you like reading children’s or teen books as an adult? Tell us what you like—we’d love to hear.

]]>https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/wa-reading-challenge-authors/feed/017154https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/wa-reading-challenge-authors/If you liked Black Panther …http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sil-bibliofiles/~3/qvKcJUyN3Vw/
https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/if-you-liked-black-panther/#respondFri, 09 Mar 2018 16:00:18 +0000https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/?p=17282By Grant P. If you are one of the billion people (not fact checked) who have already enjoyed Black Panther in the theaters and are looking for something similar, it is your lucky day because I have created a multimedia list just for all one billion of you. And if you haven’t seen it yet […]

If you are one of the billion people (not fact checked) who have already enjoyed Black Panther in the theaters and are looking for something similar, it is your lucky day because I have created a multimedia list just for all one billion of you. And if you haven’t seen it yet … don’t worry it will be in the catalog soon for hold requests.

Director Ryan Coogler’s previous film showcased some of the action filming techniques he would utilize in Black Panther. Creed is the 14th Rocky film, but in reality it stands on it’s own. Having a cursory knowledge of the Rocky universe is helpful but not necessary. The scene where Adonis runs up the hill with motorcycles revving around him with Meek Mill blaring could get me to run through a wall.

This film has no real plot, no Attenborough voiceover to guide you in what you are seeing. Instead, it just immerses you in a world that you probably haven’t experienced and then whisks you off to another. Shot in 24 countries and on 6 continents, Baraka is an experience. Coogler wanted to create a world that felt lived in and real for Black Panther, so he watched Baraka for inspiration.

This Hugo winning novela (with sequels) is about a young woman who is offered the once in a lifetime chance to go to the most prestigious university in the universe (yep … universe). Unfortunately, her people do want her to go. It is similar to Black Panther with a focus on choice, family and responsibility.

]]>https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/if-you-liked-black-panther/feed/017282https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/if-you-liked-black-panther/Prose Bowl 2018: Round 1http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sil-bibliofiles/~3/kwaFAYT6U_c/
https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/prose-bowl-2018-round-1/#commentsWed, 07 Mar 2018 17:00:09 +0000https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles?p=16886&preview=true&preview_id=16886by Kimberly P. Thanks for Voting! Round 2 opens March 14. Welcome folks to Prose Bowl 2018 where you’ll determine Sno-Isle’s favorite book for 2017! Round one is all about genres. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to decide the top favorite for each of the following categories: Crime Fiction, General/Historical Fiction, […]

Welcome folks to Prose Bowl 2018 where you’ll determine Sno-Isle’s favorite book for 2017! Round one is all about genres. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to decide the top favorite for each of the following categories: Crime Fiction, General/Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Romance, and Speculative Fiction.

If you haven’t read the books, don’t worry! You can still vote. But before you do, here are our contenders:

Crime Fiction

General Fiction/Historical Fiction

Graphic Novels

Nonfiction

Romance

Speculative Fiction (fantasy & science fiction)

Now that you know which books are eager to take their place in the winner’s circle, it’s time to cast your vote! You have until Tuesday, March 13 before round one officially ends.

Stay tuned to find out which books made the cut and which were voted off the island. See you next Wednesday!

]]>https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/prose-bowl-2018-round-1/feed/416886https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/prose-bowl-2018-round-1/LibraryReads List March 2018http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sil-bibliofiles/~3/OcujRcqsebU/
https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/libraryreads-list-march-2018/#commentsFri, 02 Mar 2018 15:01:58 +0000https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles?p=16839&preview=true&preview_id=16839By Emily Z. In the land of LibraryReads, March appears to be a month for a little madness, or at least, some psychologically intriguing thrillers and realistic fictional dramas filled with twists and trials. The other thread that seems to be linking most of these titles together? Complex female protagonists with troubled pasts. Perhaps this […]

In the land of LibraryReads, March appears to be a month for a little madness, or at least, some psychologically intriguing thrillers and realistic fictional dramas filled with twists and trials. The other thread that seems to be linking most of these titles together? Complex female protagonists with troubled pasts. Perhaps this is a subtle nod to National Women’s History Month? Although, not all of these women are paragons of virtue (two of these books even have “lie” in the title). In Sometimes I Lie, a woman trapped inside her own mind must piece together how she ended up in her coma. She has her suspicions, but she’s not entirely above suspicion herself.

]]>https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/libraryreads-list-march-2018/feed/416839https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/libraryreads-list-march-2018/Beyond Bestsellers: Suspensehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sil-bibliofiles/~3/CKqkAC8Ei3k/
https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/beyond-bestsellers-suspense/#commentsThu, 01 Mar 2018 16:00:52 +0000https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/?p=16681by Denise D. It’s March! That means daffodils, college basketball, and spring. For those participating in our Beyond Bestsellers community reading challenge, March means a new theme. (Check out Jocelyn’s January blog if you need a refresher on how to participate in Beyond Bestsellers.) What’s our theme for March? Ready?… Wait! Who’s that reading over […]

It’s March! That means daffodils, college basketball, and spring. For those participating in our Beyond Bestsellers community reading challenge, March means a new theme. (Check out Jocelyn’s January blog if you need a refresher on how to participate in Beyond Bestsellers.) What’s our theme for March?

Ready?…

Wait! Who’s that reading over your shoulder?…

No, your other shoulder….

Oh, is that just a shadow?…

Sorry, I could have sworn I saw something….

It’s probably all in my head….

Anyway, as I was saying…March is all aboutSuspense!

Roller Coaster Reads

What makes a suspense novel? At it’s most basic, suspense is all about a sense of unease and peril. The reader is glued to the book, quickly turning the pages to see if everything is going to be okay.

Why do we like suspense? Probably the same reason we flock to amusement parks and stand in long lines to ride roller coasters… the adrenaline of knowing danger is imminent, uncertainty about what twists are coming, breathless speed of action, all encased in the safety of a fictional world.

A Ride for Every Taste

Dwell in the character’s head

Suspense comes in a wide variety of styles. My personal favorite is psychological suspense because of its focus on character and atmosphere. The tension in psychological fiction is very intimate, with the unease coming from within in the character’s own mind or the minds of those close to her.

These stories often feature plot twists, unreliable narrators, multiple perspectives, flashbacks and other literary devices that keep you hungrily turning the page to find out what is real and what is illusion. Gillian Flynn, Ruth Ware, Patricia Highsmith, S.J. Bolton, and Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine are just a few of the masters of this genre.

Jump into the thrilling world of action

These are the tribulations of courageous heroes who may have a few skeletons in the closet, but are rather resolute in their patriotism and loyalty to a personal code of conduct.

Action usually fuels these adrenaline-filled tales rife with intrigue, conspiracies, and impending doom and devastation.

It takes two to tango in crime

Crime suspense straddles the middle ground between the claustrophobic psychological interior and the expansive globetrotting setting of political thrillers.

Whereas mysteries involve solving puzzles to figure out who committed a crime, crime suspense is all about being in the action of preventing another crime. Tension, menace and frenzied pacing keep readers on the edge of their seat wondering what might happen.

Thrills are compounded when authors write from both the hero and villain’s perspectives, showing that crime takes two.

It’s all in a day’s work

Some thrillers tantalize readers with a detailed insider’s view of a profession, usually legal, medical or financial.

It’s good doctors, lawyers, and scientists against the bad guys in these insider thrillers.

Which one is for you?

Not sure what suspense is right for you? No worries! Just take this quiz and we’ll guide you:

Note: There is a widget embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's widget.

No waiting… except for the suspense!

Want to immediately jump into the suspense? During the month of March, you can immediately download the following books from Overdrive:

]]>https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/beyond-bestsellers-suspense/feed/316681https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/beyond-bestsellers-suspense/Prose Bowl 2018http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sil-bibliofiles/~3/N9ouM8HY-8c/
https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles/prose-bowl-2018/#commentsWed, 28 Feb 2018 17:00:00 +0000https://blog.sno-isle.org/bibliofiles?p=16885&preview=true&preview_id=16885by Jocelyn R. Round two March is just around the corner, which means it’s once again time for Sno-Isle Libraries’ Prose Bowl. This online competition will decide our communities’ favorite read of 2017. We’ve narrowed it down to 24 of the most popular, recent books (AKA the contenders) and we’re looking for your help to […]

March is just around the corner, which means it’s once again time for Sno-Isle Libraries’ Prose Bowl. This online competition will decide our communities’ favorite read of 2017. We’ve narrowed it down to 24 of the most popular, recent books (AKA the contenders) and we’re looking for your help to find the winner. The competition begins on March 7.

Here’s how it works:

For three weeks in March, you can go online, look at the match-ups, and then vote for your favorites. Each bracket will be posted on a Wednesday, and be open for one week, closing Tuesdays at 12 pm. As with all such competitions, the contenders will be pared down until only one remains. We’ll announce the winning book on March 28.

Round 1 begins on March 7. In this round, you’ll be voting on your favorite book in six different genres:

Crime Fiction

General Fiction/Historical Fiction

Graphic Novels

Nonfiction

Romance

Speculative Fiction (fantasy & science fiction).

Then, Round 2 will pit the genre winners against each other in three battles:

Wondering how we chose the titles for the competition? Well, we considered about 750 books and whittled it down looking for a balance of gender, perspective, and audience. We included both name-brand authors and titles that are popular and recognizable, but might not have achieved mainstream success.

You don’t need a library card to vote, so feel free to share this with your family and friends. Voting begins next Wednesday, on March 7.